


Oblivious

by captain_shitpost



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), F/M, Female Reader, Reader-Insert, Sans Screams For Most Of The Fic, Second-Hand Embarrassment, reader is oblivious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-28 04:24:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17175827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captain_shitpost/pseuds/captain_shitpost
Summary: Sans had been acting off recently. You were sure he was hiding something, and you were determined to help him out!





	Oblivious

**Author's Note:**

> An Undertail Secret Santa gift for [sansismyweekness](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sansismyweakness/works?fandom_id=6541412)! (Sadly tumblr was nuked so I can't link stuff aaaa)  
> You requested a Reader/Sans fic, and when you mentioned liking Underswap I decided I had to try that! Sans/Reader fics are something I've never done before so I'm very inexperienced, and I tried to keep it fluffy but my inner angster got in the way at some points. However, I hope you like it, and my apologies for being a day late! Have some great holidays!

Your friend Sans had been acting weird the past few weeks. It started with the usually physically affectionate skeleton suddenly touching you a lot less, not giving you giant bear hugs after you solved one of his puzzles as was usual or encouraging pats on the shoulder when you had trouble dicing the vegetables for his tacos. At first you thought nothing of it, but as time went on and it became a Thing, you started wondering if something was wrong. You always were bad at picking up hints, so maybe you’d made him angry or uncomfortable and didn’t notice? But he kept inviting you to hang out and he vehemently denied being mad when you asked, so you kept seeing him, having fun as usual, even though you still worried over why he was acting so strangely.

It was after a few weeks of this, after you got used to this new distance between you even though you missed how things were, that he turned to you and suddenly stuttered out: “h-hey, what do you think about dating?”

You blinked at him, spoon still in your mouth. You put it back into the half-empty package of ice cream you both were demolishing on your scheduled movie night, then leaned back into the sofa. You tapped your chin, mulling it over. Dating was tough, needed effort and time and compromise, and all that work was never guaranteed that both people would be happy and stay together. Your own experiences were rather lackluster, after all. And why date, when your friends could be there for you just as much as any lover would? “It’s a lot of fuss over nothing, I suppose. I don’t get why people are so into it most of the time?”

Sans stared at you, shoulders slumping slightly, and with a nod he turned back to the weird horror movie you were watching. It took you a while to mull his reaction over. Did he seem…perhaps disappointed? Did you give him the wrong answer? “Something wrong, Sans?”

He jolted in place, gaze shifting towards you then gluing itself to the screen. You didn’t know if you were imagining it or not, but he seemed to have been avoiding your gaze lately. “nothing is wrong! everything is great! magnificent, even! i, uh, just. didn’t expect that answer from you!”

“Really? I haven’t dated anyone in ages, I thought you knew that,” you asked, taking another spoonful. “Why? You wanna talk about dating?”

Sans’ zygomatic arches flushed impressively, the colour creeping onto his nasal bones and his forehead. “nah, it’s nothing. just curious,” he said with a sigh, huddling deeper into his blanket. He seemed dejected. With a flash of clarity, you realized the issue. Sans had a crush on someone.

He never seemed to you like he cared much for dating, definitely more the type to focus on friends and family and his new surface job than canoodling, but perhaps you shouldn’t have been so surprised. His brother had recently started dating someone, his former boss and best friend Alphys was in a long-term committed relationship, and Sans was always meeting new people at his job, in the store, even just chatting to people randomly on the street. Maybe he’d met someone who caught his eye?

The thought made your heart hurt briefly. Many of your friends dropped you like a hot potato as soon as they found a significant other, and the idea of Sans not hanging out with you anymore because he was busy with his datemate made you chest ache. But he was your friend and you cared about him, and if someone else would make him happy you would do your best to support him.

The rest of the evening was spent in silence, Sans watching the movie intently while you made a mental list of who he could be into, and how you’d help him out. You would be the best wingman ever! Anything for your friend!

 

A few days later, you were at Muffet’s, Sans drinking some condiment-y abomination of a drink and a greasy spider donut while you sipped on the house special. He seemed to have been a bit more comfortable around you lately, but today he was twitchy and flushed again. Your stomach twisted as you noted the flushing happened every time you met him. Could he be sick and hiding it? Heavens knows he hid a lot of stuff, but he would mention feeling ill instead of forcing himself to go out…right?

“say, buddy,” he exclaimed, breaking you out of your worry. “I got you something.”

You watched him shuffle through his pocket, extracting something out of a plastic bag and holding it in his fist. “come on, hold your hand out.”

You obeyed, and he plopped something wrinkly and cool in your hand. You looked at it. It was small and brown, oddly shiny in the cafe’s lighting, and slightly sticky to the touch. “you, uh, know what that is?”

You held it up, looking it over. “Some kind of seed? I’m not sure.”

“it’s a date,” Sans explained, looking to the side. “so…you wanna?”

You turned the date over, frowning. It felt weird in your hand, but you were always up for trying new food, especially if Sans liked it. “Yeah, sure!”

Sans’ gaze snapped to you, flush creeping across his face. “wait, wait. really? you really wanna?”

You nodded enthusiastically. You weren’t quite sure why Sans seemed so nervous about giving you this food to try, but you didn’t want to be rude. “Yeah, I’ll eat the date. I’m sure since you picked it out, it’s delicious!” you said with a smile, then popped it into your mouth. It was very sweet, though the pit in the middle caught you off guard. You spit it into a napkin, then beamed at him. “It’s really tasty! I get why you wanted me to try it!”

Sans sputtered in his seat, then buried his face into his crossed arms with a garbled sound. You weren’t sure why he did that, so while he was occupied you pulled out your phone to google places that sold dates. You wanted to have some stocked for when he came over to your place…and maybe buy some for yourself.

 

Sans had invited you to see a movie this Friday. He seemed pretty enthusiastic about it, seemingly out of the funk that he’d been in after that time you went to the café. You hoped that whatever was going on with his mystery crush, or his possible-but-not-confirmed illness you were still worrying on-and-off about, was getting better and his mood was lifting as a consequence.

You were more than enthusiastic about the movie. You were ecstatic! Two of your favourite actors were in it _and_ you knew the director was good _and_ the reviews were overwhelmingly positive! You didn’t want to get your hopes up too high, but you had a hunch you would have an amazing experience! And Sans, thoughtful guy that he was, was the one that told you the movie was coming out since he knew your obsession with the actors, otherwise you wouldn’t have even known. He was always so sweet to everyone, thoughtful and caring even if it wasn’t through grand gestures but through cheering people up with small signs of genuine love. His crush was a very lucky person.

You stopped mid phone scroll, an idea growing. You promised yourself you’d help him with his crush before, and this could be an excellent opportunity! Inviting them over to the movies would give him some time to spend casually with them, possibly pull some moves. You smirked, opening your messenger app. A devilish idea, if you did say so yourself. Only the best for your friends.

The issue remained, though: you didn’t know who his crush was. Out of all the friends he had most were taken, and you didn’t think Sans was the type to be so open about having a crush on someone else’s date. You started scrolling through your contacts, looking for the people he knew that were single, sending them messages of the time and place of the movie. You hoped that whoever his crush was that they were someone you knew and could contact, and also that they would accept the invitation. You crossed your fingers as answers started coming in. Lady Luck shines on those in love, you heard it said before. You never tried to be a wingman before, so you didn’t have many other ideas. Hopefully this one would work?

On Friday you did your hair up, put on a nice outfit you always got complimented on and rushed to the movies, trying to be there to catch Sans before everyone else arrived. You’d told them to come 20 minutes later than you told Sans to, enough time to prepare him for your plan. You smiled when you finally spotted him, waving at you enthusiastically in one of his characteristic outfits. You knew few people could pull off cowboy boots and still look cute, but he managed it every time.

“I’m glad you made it, I hope the traffic wasn’t bad,” you told him, arms raising into a hug before you realized he didn’t hug anymore and dropped them. Sans grinned at you, seemingly unbothered by your flailing.

“it was fine, don’t worry. you ready for the movie of your dreams?” he asked, steering you to the ticket booth.

“Oh man, I am! It’s gonna be so good, I guarantee it!” you exclaimed, gesticulating in front of you. You had yet to see a movie of your favourite actor that wasn’t good, after all. You pushed in front of him, grabbing your wallet. “I’m paying for the tickets, don’t worry.”

Sans shrugged, not enthusiastic to fight you on it. That was fine, you forgot how many times you ate your way through his fridge. You weren’t easy to feed, and he’d yet to ask you for a single dime for it. You probably owed him some serious cash at this point in grocery expenses.

“so i was thinking, maybe we could go grab some dinner after the movie? there’s this little restaurant I wanna show you, i think you’d like it,” he said, shuffling at your side.

You beamed at him, taking out your credit card as the line moved. “That sounds great! You always pick good food places. Remember the pizza place you took me too? You spoil me.”

Sans seemed surprised for a moment before he looked down to the side, staring intently. You immediately looked in that direction, wondering what drew his attention. Was he avoiding your gaze? Or were you just paranoid?

Finally, you reached the dead-inside teenage ticket seller, dictating to him the title of the movie, the time and finally pointing to the seats you wanted. Sans looked at the screen, then at you. “uh. that’s a lot of seats. i…thought it was gonna be just the two of us?”

“Oh, I invited some of our friends! The more the merrier, right?” you said, giving him a wink. You could have sworn that his eye lights sputtered out for a moment, but it was there and gone before you were sure.

“yeah. sure. hope we all have fun,” he said with a deep sigh, then slowly gave you a thumbs up. You smiled wider as you noticed one of his coworkers arriving early, wondering if he was the one. You certainly hoped Sans got somewhere tonight!

 

Sans had given you a puzzle. A very unique one, one that google named a ‘cryptex’, and one you were almost sure was hand-made, either by Sans or his brother and/or friends. He’d seemed pretty exhausted when he’d given it to you, as if he hadn’t slept well lately, and you had no idea if he was up due to work, getting obsessed with making this puzzle or because of thoughts of his crush. You really wished you knew who his crush was, or if he was alright, but you secretly hoped he’d tell you by himself. Not likely, that. Sans may have been a very friendly guy, but he locked up tighter than a zip tie when he wanted to.

As it was, he was busy with work, so busy he hadn’t come to see you in days, so you decided that afternoon to try to unlock the puzzle. The only hint Sans had given you was that it was his ‘favourite’, and explained how the puzzle worked. There were 8 letters that would spell out a word, and he mentioned that if a word was too short the extras should be put to A. Obviously, the first thing you spelled was ‘Papyrus’, putting an ‘A’ in the last space, then pulled to open it. Only after a good 3 minutes of working up a sweat and pulling a muscle in your hand did you realize the puzzle wasn’t broken, just that you got the word wrong.

This was the beginning of a week-long process, one where you cycled through amusement, frustration, then absolute bemusement and finally landing on insanity. You had tried the names of all his friends, his brother, all in several spellings, then moved onto his favourite dishes, eventually running through the list and starting to put in every single food you could remember him trying, then moving onto the names of stars, googling engineering terms you had no idea if he even knew, then cracking open the dictionary and working your way through it, but as time went on you were growing more and more angry. You had a notebook you started writing in on the third day, filled with a list of your attempts, and staring at the pages of words you tried you could only feel a growing urge to burn it.

On the eight day your boss invited you to her office and gave you a talking to over your work performance lacking. You apologized profusely, excusing yourself with feeling ill lately, but really the damn puzzle wouldn’t let you focus on anything else, your brain going through the list and finding new words you hadn’t thought of before instead of focusing on your work. When you got home you first punched your pillow in frustration, threw the notebook in your desk drawer and put the cryptex on your bookshelf, using it to prop up your favourite books. You loved Sans’ puzzles, usually you even solved them with great success, but you knew when you had been bested.

When Sans called you to ask about the puzzle, you confessed your failure. He sighed deeply, which confused you. You figured he’d be proud and teasing you about making a puzzle you couldn’t solve.

“it’s fine. you’ll solve it when you solve it. helping you would be cheating, right? and i remember someone telling me cheating is bad,” he said, a grin audible in his voice. You frowned.

“Fine. Not solving this damn thing is better than dealing with you cheating in Mario Kart again.”

 

It was the 3-year anniversary of Monsters reaching the surface. There was a festival going on in town, one you sadly had to miss due to work, but you were so excited to go to the afterparty. It was held at the former King’s house, Asgore inviting you personally since you babysat his adopted human a few times. You were delighted to come, making sure you had nice clothes you wouldn’t be upset about staining-you knew how parties where Undyne, Alphys and Papyrus got drunk at went-and of course, you’d hang out with Sans. He had been busy lately, turning your invitations down due to being overworked. You hoped he wasn’t neglecting his health. Then again, this was the guy who thought a triple burger was an acceptable breakfast, so maybe you worried too much.

Arriving you were immediately assaulted by a bucket of water, predictably with Chara and Sans giggling behind the doorway, even if Sans seemed a bit apologetic. You didn’t mind, really. It was a warm night and you’d dry off soon, and the screams Chara emitted as you hugged them with your wet shirt on were worth it.

It was a great party overall. Unexpectedly Toriel was the drunkest one there, deciding to redecorate the garden with the cupcakes, while Papyrus had disappeared…somewhere, if the strange sounds of bones troussling coming from an unidentifiable direction were to be believed. Undyne and Alphys were busy setting up the fireworks, Asgore was trying to lecture Chara on licking the frosting off the cake before it was served and failing, and Sans had seemed very fidgety all evening. He kept glancing to the garden, not really listening to what you were saying. At one point you both sat down in silence and you decided to leave him to his suspicious anxiety. You were a bit hurt, honestly. Your friend had been acting weird for a while now and was now avoiding you, or at least it seemed that way. You wanted to bring it up, but maybe he was dealing with something big. You didn’t want to give him more problems if he had plenty, but you wished he’d let you help him somehow. Or at least say what was up.

Eventually he tugged your sleeve sharply, looking at you with an excited grin and a light flush on his face. “hey, the fireworks are starting! be sure to watch, i asked for a special one for you!” he said, letting go of your sleeve. You felt a warmth in your chest. A firework…for you? On an anniversary of such an important part of monster culture? It was humbling. You kept your eyes peeled and trained on the sky above you, waiting in stiff excitement. You could feel Sans breathing fast next to you.

The first firework went off, a shower of colours exploding and dying down, followed by a true monster firework that exploded into the shape of a shark that swam in the sky for several seconds before fading away. Apparently, infusing magic into chemicals had some amazing consequences. You kept watching, wondering which one of these amazing creations was for you, even though you would have felt honoured with the smallest spark of colour as long as it came from your friend. You felt Sans grab your hand, squeezing it tightly. “last one is for you,” he whispered, his grip firm. You nodded, excitement mounting.

Finally, after a slightly longer pause, a final firework shot out, lingering in the sky before exploding into text. You squinted as you tried to read the words, breathing in the smell of gunpowder.

“’Will you goat with me’? What goat?” you asked, turning to Sans. You saw him blink once, twice, before slowly lowering his gaze to your face. “Are you getting a goat?”

He sank his face into his hands, an impressive flush spreading across the back of his neckbones. You weren’t sure why he was being shy, and even Undyne, sitting next to him, was sweating and flushing. “it’s…nah, i’m not getting a goat. nevermind. i hope you liked the fireworks.”

“They were fantastic, Sans! I’ll goat with you whenever you want!” you answered. Even if you had no idea what he meant, you were sure it would be fine. He smiled at you, small but warm, then turned to Undyne. You weren’t sure what kind of face he was making, but she started sweating faster.

“Dude, your handwriting sucks, don’t blame this on me,” she muttered. You turned your gaze back to the sky, the stars shining bright in constellations you couldn’t name. The next day, you bought Goat Simulator so you could goat together. Sans seemed exasperated when you invited him over for it, but by the end of the evening he was laughing so you considered it a win.

 

_‘can i get your advice’_

That was the text Sans had sent you at 1 o’clock in the morning. He was lucky you didn’t have work tomorrow, otherwise you’d have been deep asleep. As it was, you got a bit worried. You would help him, sure, but what if something bad had happened? You already had several scenarios flitting through your mind, each worse than the last.

No. It was probably nothing scary. It was just that, with Sans avoiding you-and you couldn’t keep making excuses for him, he’d been avoiding you lately-you had a bad feeling in general about him. You took a deep breath, and instead of freaking out, you sent your reply: _’Sure, what’s up’_

_‘how do i tell someone that i like them’_

You blinked, trying to get your sleep-deprived brain to concentrate. Sans really did have a crush. You were pretty sure, going by circumstantial evidence, that this was a strong possibility, but Sans point-blank admitting it was jarring. You wanted to ask who it was, but if he didn’t volunteer the information himself you didn’t want to pry. You wondered what kind of person was his type. Who would catch his attention. Whoever they were, they were extremely lucky. Sans, except for when he was being an evasive dumbass and somewhat of a slob, was a supportive, gentle friend and a good person in general. Smart too. Funny enough to make you snort whiskey up your nose. Your chest hurt, deep and familiar.

That was childish of you. He deserved the best, including a great datemate. Getting jealous that he seemed to care more about someone else than you was shitty. He had no obligation to put you first. You just…hoped that for once, someone would keep you in first place. But it was his choice who he would date and spend time with, and spending time with his date would be no different than when he couldn’t meet up with you because his brother was having a bad day or he’d already made plans weeks in advance with Alphys. Even though it felt very different.

You took a deep breath, pulling the words from your heart. _‘Don’t complicate it, just be honest and direct! Tell them you like them and I’m sure they’ll say yes! You’re a real catch!’_

Your phone went silent for several minutes after that, making you wonder where he’d gone off to. Midnight snack? His brother set something on fire again? You decided to get ready for bed, your phone pinging in the middle of brushing your teeth. You opened it with wet fingers, trying not to get any toothpaste on it.

 _‘I like you,’_ was all it said. You snorted in amusement.

 _‘Yeah! Exactly like that! Go straight for the kill! Except with less killing and more smooching,’_ you replied, then put the phone down to gargle some water. Your phone pinged again.

 _‘I like you more than a friend,’_ he replied, making your chest warm. He could be infuriating, but you couldn’t deny that he put in effort.

 _‘Same. You’re my best friend too, Sans, I’m always happy to help you with whatever you need! Just remember to talk to me! And tell me how things go with the confession ;)’_ you wrote, yawning as the exhaustion settled in your bones. You wanted to cheer him on and help, even if you were being a bit jealous.

You fell asleep waiting for his reply, and he never got back to you about how the confession went. You pretended not to be hurt by this.

 

It had been weeks since you last saw Sans. You got up every morning, made yourself breakfast, went to work, went back home, spent your weekends cleaning your place or watching movies or doing the shopping, and not once did Sans contact you. Sans had been busy before, sure, but he’d never been so busy that you wouldn’t see him at all for so long, and he’d never ignored your texts before. You never realized just how much time you two spent together until the loneliness started eating at you.

Your anxiety kept rising the entire two weeks, wondering if something had happened to Sans. Was work being tough on him? Was he sick? You were worried enough that you called Papyrus to ask, but even though he assured you Sans was fine he seemed so sketchy about it that even you picked up that he may be lying, which in turn made you worry even more.

The panic got so bad eventually that you bought some doughnuts at the store and went to his house on his usual day off in the hopes of seeing him. You knew it wasn’t polite to drop by unannounced if he was so busy he couldn’t even answer your messages, but your worry had kept you up for two days and you wouldn’t settle down until you saw him for yourself. His brother wouldn’t tell you Sans was fine if he was dying, right?! Right. He would be fine. And you’d see him, be reassured, and go on your merry way.

You knocked on the door, the doughnut box crinkled in your vice-like grip. You bounced in place, silently praying that someone was at home and second-guessing your decision before you heard the sound of the lock clicking, Sans opening the door. He looked puzzled for a second until he saw your face, sockets widening and eye lights dimming momentarily. He stood there, shifting his weight back and staring at you before jolting upright. “oh, geez! look at my manners, come on in! i, uh, wasn’t expecting you!”

You smiled slightly, giving him the box as you entered the living room. You looked around, not seeing any signs of another person in the house, just a pile of junk and junk food on the coffee table. You turned to Sans, watching him deposit the doughnuts onto the crowded table and then following him to the kitchen. He busied himself making the two of you drinks, flitting from one cupboard to another, somehow finding everything he needed while never once looking in your direction.

You grit your teeth. He seemed healthy, slightly busy but not overworked, and other than a bit nervous he was the same as he always was. There was no emergency. No health issue. Going by the lack of a stack of paperwork on the table and the fact that he was at home instead of at his job, work wasn’t being too harsh. You crossed your arms, glaring at the back of his neck. “So. Been a while since we spoke.”

Sans turned around, grabbing a spoon from the drawer next to you. You wished he would look at you already. Was he angry? Guilty? “yeah, sorry. i’ve been real busy, and i figured maybe we’d need some space,” he answered, turning away from you to go back to his drink making. You frowned.

“Space? I don’t need space. Why do you need space?” you asked, trying very hard not to hiss it out. The last thing you needed was to start yelling at him. You were an adult, and people don’t like it when you get mad over nothing. “Did I do something wrong?”

Sans froze up, and for a moment you wondered if you let the hurt into your voice. He breathed in deeply, then slowly let it put through his teeth. “…you really didn’t notice, did ya.”

“Notice _what_ , Sans?!” you exclaimed, throwing your arms out. “You’ve been acting weird for ages, and at first I thought you maybe had a crush on someone, then I thought maybe you were sick or really busy and that’s why you wouldn’t meet up with me, and now you refuse to answer my texts and you don’t hang out with me anymore and-”

You hiccupped, covering your mouth at the mortifying sound. Your eyes stung horribly, and in a few moments you could taste tears running down your face. Sans turned around at the sound, staring you with the look a deer on a highway would give you. “You won’t look at me, and you won’t tell me what’s wrong, and I’m worried! If you’re mad at me just say so!”

Sans raised his hand once, let it fall, then with a gentle frown he shot out and grabbed your hands. “i’m not mad at you! i never was, i’m sorry i made you think i was mad…”

You sniffled, looking at the ceiling to try and stop the tears. He sighed, then let go of your hands and went in for a hug. It took you a moment to raise your arms and hug him back, and the feeling of him holding you after so long made a fresh batch of tears well up. “geez, i really messed everything up. i absolutely never wanted to make you worry. you’re my best friend, alright? i’m really sorry for shutting you out. i was trying to deal with some stuff and i was stupid and didn’t think about how it’d make you feel.”

You hugged him tighter, the feeling of his ribs digging into flesh achingly familiar. “W-will you tell me what’s wrong, then?”

He stood still, ribcage moving in tandem with yours for a little while. You started to wonder if he’d just ignore your question before he moved a step back and caught your gaze. Your breath hitched, and not just because you were crying. You forgot how intense his eye lights could be. “i like you.”

You sniffed, rubbing the tear tracks off your face. “I like you too, Sans. You’re pretty awesome.”

“no, i mean-” he burst out, then slapped his face. He chuckled, deep and slightly high-strung, before he looked at you again, a flush appearing on his face. “i want to date. you. i want to date you. i like you in the romantic sense.”

You stared at him, probably longer than you should have. “What?”

“i like you! i am attracted to you! i can’t stop staring at the way your hair catches the light, i can’t get your laugh out of my skull, i wanna hug you and never let go every damn time i see you, every time i look you in the eyes i think you’ll figure out how i feel so i can’t even look at you without blushing, i-i’m crazy about you! completely! and i’ve been trying to ask you out for 2 months now, and i started off subtle cuz i get too nervous to even look at you, and then it would go badly and i’d start getting more obvious cuz maybe you missed the hints, then last time i texted you a confession and you blew me off and i thought-maybe you were missing it on purpose? trying to let me down easy? so i wanted to back off and not be too pushy if it’s not wanted but then i apparently made you worry, and i kind of messed everything up??? i’m sorry?!” he exclaimed, panting slightly from both his speech and his magic being agitated, if his full-skull flush was any indication.

You blinked at him. “You. Like me.”

“yes!”

“And all this stuff was because you had a crush on me and you were trying to confess?”

“yep!”

“So…you’re not mad at me?”

Sans threw his hands in the air. “of course i’m not! you’re amazing, and super kind and sweet, and so smart too, and a hard worker, and you’re great to my bro and my friends, how could i ever be mad at you?!” he said, slapping both hands to his face. “maybe i should have been more obvious…somehow. i don’t know. or at least talked to you more instead of giving you the cold shoulder.”

You sniffed once, your eyes dryer now. You weren’t sure what you felt right now. Partly relief because things were fine between you two, partly utter confusion because Sans…liked you? _Liked_ you. Which was something you’d never have expected. You always imagined someone utterly amazing as Sans’ date, not you, you who spent all day on your phone, who thought the height of entertainment was watching The Room, who thought all your friends would leave you for someone better.

And partly, you felt a heaviness in your chest, panicky and exhilarating. He liked you. He thought you were good enough for him, flaws and all. It’s not like he didn’t have flaws himself, and he always did say you were much harsher on yourself than you should be. Maybe he saw something in you that you couldn’t?

You wondered suddenly if he’d ever thought about kissing you, how that would work out with his lack of lips. Now that you thought of it, you felt a heat in your face, spreading into your stomach. You sure would be thinking about it from now on.

“I guess I didn’t expect you would be interested in me, so I never picked up on it…” you said, looking to the side to avoid his gaze. “I didn’t mean to make you think I wasn’t interested. If I wasn’t, I would have told you directly. I wouldn’t lie to you.

“it’s fine, you didn’t pick up on it, it’s not your fault-” he started, stopping mid breath. “did you just say you’re interested.”

You felt your blush spread, avoiding his gaze. You weren’t sure you’d be able to keep your voice steady, so instead you nodded, wringing your hands in front of you. If this is how Sans felt the entire time, you couldn’t blame him for not confessing directly at first. You’d known you had a crush on him consciously for 5 minutes and you were already a mess.

You felt his bony arms wrap around you, picking you clean off the ground despite the size difference. “you’re interested?? you really want to date me??” he exclaimed, the heat of his magic tingling across your skin. You couldn’t help it-you burst out laughing and nodded again, laughing harder as he spun you around, cursing when he bumped you into the counter and he muttered an apology. When he put you down you finally saw his face, a wide smile with no worries pulling it down. You’d missed it so much. “i’m so glad, you got no idea! i had a lot of date ideas, but some, uh. kind of fell through.”

Several things clicked together in your mind. “The movie we went to was supposed to be a date, huh.”

“yep. and that time we went to muffet’s. plus the cryptex,” he said with a shrug. You winced.

“I really missed a whole bunch, huh. Plus I never figured out the cryptex,” you apologized, scratching the back of your head. Sans huffed out a laugh, looking about as far from angry and annoyed as was possible.

“it’s fine, what’s been has been. we can make plans for a date now, since we’re on the same page,” he said, sticking his hands in his pockets. His smile stretched wider, just a bit mocking. “or…you could go give that cryptex a few more tries. maybe you’ll get something out of it.”

You perked up, putting your hand on your chin. It had been a while since you touched it, maybe you’d have the clarity to solve it now? And you always hated it when he won. He was never too obnoxious about it, but he was insufferably smug. No way would you admit defeat after being challenged again. “Fine. I’ll give it another go. And we’ll talk more about all this later, when I get my head on straight. Alright?”

“got it. go take a break, then get ready for a date with your _bonefriend_ ,” he said with a smirk, blush making a reappearance. You laughed.

“Alright. See you later…vertebae,” you answered, making a dynamic exit with Sans’ guffaws at your back. Right on time, too, your heart felt like it would explode out of your throat.

You weren’t exactly sure what was going on on your trip home, your thoughts racing in so many directions you could barely even pay attention to the traffic lights. What would this mean for your friendship. What would it be like, dating your best friend. What would change, and what would stay the same. Would you still waste time playing weird video games together or would you go on fancy dates and whatnot? A nice date sounded, well, nice, but you loved just sitting with him and watching crappy shows and eating greasy pizza. Maybe you could mention that to him?

You got to your place with no recollection of how you got there, and without taking your clothes or shoes off you went straight to the cryptex and grabbed it, turning it the correct way. You mulled it over. Sans’ favourite, he’d said. You went over some of the things you knew he loved, then dismissed them due to already trying them. You even tried a few again that failed, as expected.

You tapped your finger on the smooth surface, remembering how it felt to have Sans hold your hands. Firm but gentle. Breathing increasing, you shifted the letters until they spelled out your name, then pulled. You almost dropped it as you put too much strength in, the top popping off easily. You frantically shook out the contents onto your bed, looking over the bits of paper that fell out. There were two tickets to the star show at a planetarium, expiring in 2 weeks, and a small note with Sans’ loopy handwriting on it.

‘you’re my favourite star, so lets go check out the rest!’

You smiled to yourself. Really, he was a nerd. You took your phone out and after a moment of debate you sent a message. _‘Hey, I opened the cryptex. I’d love to go on a date with you, it sounds like a STELLAR idea’_

 You’d just managed to take off your coat and one shoe before your phone buzzed. You opened it with trepidation and saw a crudely drawn portrait of Sans giving you a thumbs up, a small taco drawn in the corner as the first message. The second one was typed, though.

_‘i can’t believe you were surprised i’m into you, you’re puntastic.’_


End file.
